You are here

Singletrack: David Taylor

Video of IevVYdZNEA0

"Coffee's So Good" single

I created this track based on an inside joke from college. When I was in school, we did a production of Guys & Dolls. I played the character Arvide. He has the line “Coffee’s so good, I don’t understand why it’s not a sin!” The way I delivered that line just seemed to crack people up! So, I incorporated it as the hook for this song.

I also wanted to create something dance-able; the line tends to lend itself to that style. Besides, it’s simply more fun setting something to a four-on-the-floor beat. I also created an animated video because I thought it would emphasize the light-hearted nature of the track.

To create something that I considered "more dance-able," I kept the mixing focus on the kick drum and the bass line, and not the higher-frequency keyboard elements. Lyrically it meant always maintaining a sense of forward motion which is aided by the words of the main hook falling on downbeats and not syncopated beats:

Cof- Beat 3 So - Beat 4 Good - Beat 1, next measure.

I also tend to be quite verbose. I had to limit my nagging desire to add more verses and lyrical content. Limiting the amount of words as well as the frequency of harmonic rhythm (chord changes) makes it even more likely that the listener will focus on the beat and move to it as well. The result is (hopefully) more dancing!

David Taylor wrote and performed the song "Coffee's So Good" in its entirety, all rights reserved 2013. He is a Chicago-based songwriter, music producer, author, singer and playwright. He is also known as The Intrepid Songwriter. He has done work for McDonald's, Disney, written music for TV pilots & film and worked with artists like jazz great Dave Koz & newcomer Richard Kincaid. He has also had songs in the Top 20 and Top 40, and is a public speaker at varied music industry-related events, and in support of music education.

On this track:David Taylor, vocals/mixing/and everything else

"Singletrack" is CAR's Artist Story for Chicago performers in which songwriters, bands, playwrights, actors and writers discuss the creation of a recorded work alongside audio or video clips of the performance. To submit your song for consideration, please email our researchers.